Improvement in railroad beds



UNITED STATES"j PATENT CFEIcE. yA

.ironia WILLIAM KERN, or PORTLAND, OREGON.

IMPROVEMENT |N` RAILROAD BEDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 133,067, dated February18, 1873.

T o all whom it may concer-n:

Be it known that I, JOHN WILLIAM KERN of Portland, in the county ofMultnomah and State of Oregon, `have invented a new and valuableImprovement in Iron Bed for Bailroads; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the Constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawingmaking a part of this specification and tothe letters and f1 guresofreference marked thereon. Figurel of the drawing is a representation ofa bottom view ofl my invention. Fig. 2 is cross-section ofthe same. i

rlhis invention has relation to railroads, adapted particularly for theuse of safety-cars having conical wheels;A and it consists in theconstruction and novel arrangement of almetallic` roofshaped track bed,substantially as hereinafter described.`

Referring to the drawing, A designates the Y rail, of ordinary form, andB the metallic bed.

This bed is composed of sheets of one-fourthinch boiler-iron, or othersuitable material, raised at their middle parts to the angular form orprismoid shape, shownv in the drawing, and joined together at theiredges, so as to produce an angular ridge, which shall run the wholelength of the line, or as far as may be required. At the bases of theinclined sides of the ridge B the sheets are extended laterally toconstitute platforms C for the reception of the rails. Flanges d areturned down at the edges of these platforms, and are embedded in theground, so as to render the bed firm and secure. The rails lie close tothe inclined sides of the pyramidal ridge, and are secured by means ofthe llanges G riveted to the bed and overlapping the base of the railson the inside, and bythe cleats or lugs .EI riveted to the platforms Cand projecting over theouter portions of the said base. The ends oftheplates constituting the bed are joined together` by overlapping, andangularly corrugatingthe edges,as shown at I, Fig. 3. Iron Yties 1J areused to bind'the sides ofthe bed. l and to render the whole structurestrong and durable.

These ties arel bolted to the under sides of the platforms G, and extendcrosswise j of the track or road.

Before the bed and track are .builtV the road is 1properly filled up, sothat the bed may rest on a solid foundation and the entire spaceunderneath it occupied. Y As before stated, the angularbed is designedfor the use of cars having conical wheels. When this form of wheel andbed is employed it is impossible for the cars to get oii of the track.The road is therefore absolutely safe against accidents of suchcharacter. Provision is to be made, however, for the necessary removal Aof f cars at stations, s'witches, and the like, by the occasionalemployment of the ordinary horizontal bed.

The metallic bed is in itself a great improvement upon the old style,being much more durable, stronger, and less liable to get out of repair.The metal -protects the road from the effects of water and frost, andmay be substituted for Wooden ties, or used in connection with them, ata comparativelyT small additional outlay.

To prevent rust the metal should be coated with some protecting materialadapted to the purpose. A

l. The improved railroad bed having the angular ridge B located betweenthe rails A,

substantially as specified.

2. A railroad bed composed ot' sheets of metal joined together, raisedin the middle to form the ridge B, and extended at the sides to producerail-supporting platforms C, all substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

The sheets B, constituting theprismoid railroad bed, and joined togetherby overlapping and angularly corrugatin g the edges, substan tially asspecified.

4. The flanges cl and cleats E, in combination with a metallic railroadbed having the prismoid metallic ridge B and the rails A, substantiallyas specified.

5. The iron ties J, in combination with the metallic angular bed B andplatforms C, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my nameinthe presence of two witnesses. JOHN WILLIAM KERN.

Witnesses:

GEO. Wo oDwAnn I. BERN.

